Improving Social Behaviors in the Classroom: An Easy Curriculum for Teachers of Young Children With Autism, Developmental Disabilities and Typical Children

When it comes to teaching social skills to young learners, instructors are always looking for a defined curriculum that presents the precise skills to address and how to teach them. A group of highly skilled professionals at the UCLA Early Childhood Partial Hospitalization Program has created a curriculum that provides detailed day-by-day lessons to be incorporated into the regular school day. The intent is to provide teachers with a developmentally appropriate sequence of basic social skills by breaking each skill into its component parts. Each skill is introduced and then built upon throughout the weeks. This is a highly structured, sequenced curriculum that enhances specific social goals that are the stepping stones of building appropriate social behaviors. There are four categories: Possessive Understanding/Acknowledgement of Others; Basic Initiation Skills; Turn Taking and Simple Social Play; and Cooperation. There are daily lessons that span 25 weeks, making implementation of the curriculum a breeze. Each week contains a listing of the behavioral objective, how to identify the skill components and a list of lessons and materials for the week. Each skill is targeted to be learned in a week of themed activities that can be taught in short segments and then revisited and generalized in the classroom. There is even a Dear Parents letter to be photocopied and sent home at the beginning of the week so that families can reinforce and generalize the skills being taught that week. The curriculum is designed for preschool or early elementary special education teachers of students with autism spectrum disorders but can also be used with any students who have developmental or emotional difficulties. The curriculum is highly structured to encourage peer interaction within small groups in the classroom setting.

STEPHANNY F.N. FREEMAN, Ph.D.Dr. Freeman is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Division of Child Psychiatry at UCLA, a licensed clinical psychologist, and Co-director of the Early Childhood Partial Hospitalization Program (ECPHP). She received her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology with a specialization in Special Education. As an elementary school teacher, she worked with children with autism and other exceptional children, designing individualized curricula and behavior plans. In graduate school, Dr. Freeman conducted assessments in a clinical environment, establishing expertise in cognitive, academic, language, and adaptive behavior instruments for children aged two to 18. Early research interests included social (peers and friendship) and emotional recognition, empathy, and problem-solving) development. During a National Institute of Mental Health postdoctoral fellowship, she coordinated and carried out research-based intervention services for preschool children with autism.Dr. Freeman directs the day-to-day activities of ECPHP staff and coordinates the evaluation, treatment, and development of appropriate multidisciplinary programs for school-aged and severely impaired children with autism. She assists parents in developing appropriate educational programs and school-based modifications, behavior education and training, and cognitive and social/emotional/play development. Current research areas include targeting core deficits and intervention, best-practice interdisciplinary interventions, and play/social skills development.GAZI BEGUM, M.A.Gazi Begum completed her undergraduate degree in psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles. After completing her B.A., she worked at the Early Childhood Partial Hospitalization Program for two years. Currently, Ms. Begum is a doctoral student in School Psychology at the University of California, Riverside. She is a recipient of the Doug Flutie Fellowship. Her research focuses on improving social and behavioral functioning of children with developmental disabilities through home-school partnerships. Ms. Begum also works at SEARCH, a family autism center that provides resources to low income and Spanish speaking families who have children with autism spectrum disorder.KRISTEN HAYASHIDA, M.Ed.Kristen Hayashida currently instructs and nurtures high-functioning children with autism at the University of California, Los Angeles, Early Childhood Partial Hospitalization Program (UCLA ECPHP). Serving as head teacher, she helps design and implement comprehensive treatment plans to improve her students' ability to function in the general education classroom and among their peers of conventional development. Additionally, Kristen is involved in research that examines co-occurring social and behavioral disorders in the clinic population of children with autism spectrum disorders. Kristen has also taught weekly social skills groups for young children with autism. Kristen holds a Masters in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in Human Development and Psychology. She graduated from UCLA with a bachelor's degree in Sociology with a minor in Applied Developmental Psychology. Kristen's passion for underserved children with autism drives her to pursue novel ways to create social settings which allow them to participate in, and take advantage of, more mainstream programming for children.TANYA PAPARELLA, Ph.D.Dr. Paparella is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Division of Child Psychiatry at UCLA and a licensed clinical psychologist. As Co-director of ECPHP, she is a specialist in the field of autism, having spent more than 15 years in intervention and research. Dr. Paparella received her master's degrees in Special Education and in Counseling Psychology from Rutgers University in New Jersey. Her formative years in applied autism intervention were spent at the Douglas Developmental Disabilities Center at Rutgers University where she designed, implemented, and evaluated educational programs. She received her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from UCLA and completed a two-year National Institute of Mental Health postdoctoral fellowship in the Division of Child Psychiatry. Dr. Paparella oversees the daily activities of ECPHP staff. She is actively involved in all aspects of the comprehensive evaluation and treatment of children with autism from 18 months to four years of age. She works closely with parents to support and educate them in all aspects of their child's treatment. Dr. Paparella provides ongoing clinical instruction for students, interns, and fellows from different specialties, and her research has focused on the development of core deficits in young children with autism. Her current clinical and research interests relate to the effectiveness of early intervention, particularly with respect to predictors of outcomes for toddlers on the autism spectrum.